Buckeye Central turns to its chemistry
Bucks return five seniors, three juniors and two sophomores of a tight knit group
- Buckeye Central returns five seniors for the 2015-16 season
- Grant Loy is at the forefront of the Buck seniors
- Point guard Scott Heydinger will be the general on the floor
- The Bucks had the second best defense in the N10 last year
NEW WASHINGTON – The best subject of study at Buckeye Central has to be chemistry.
The Bucks should ace the course.
Buckeye Central returns five seniors for the 2015-16 season, all of whom have been playing together for a very long time. Grant Loy is at the forefront of the Buck seniors. The 6-foot-4 first team all-Northern 10 and District 6 forward averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists a night for the 17-9 district runner-up Bucks.
Loy was honorable mention all-Northwest District as a junior.
Four classmates join him on the hardwood – two are returning letter winners. Point guard Scott Heydinger will be the general on the floor. As a junior, he averaged six points, three assists, two steals and two rebounds a night as the sixth man and earned honorable mention N10 and honorable mention District 6.
Loy and Heydinger are the top two returning scorers. Senior Warren Wechter and junior Tyler Trapp round out the returning letter winners. Wechter played in 21 games and averaged two points while Trapp played in all 26 games and averaged a point, two assists and two rebounds a game.
Nash Ehresman and Jacob Messmer make up the remaining seniors. Ehresman appeared in 17 games as a junior.
“Our major strengths are going to be team chemistry and defense,” Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy said.
The Bucks had the second best defense in the N10 last year. As a team, they gave up 44 points a night and held opponents to 40 percent shooting while forcing 15 turnovers a game.
With senior chemistry, the Bucks will have a young bench. Juniors Jacob Shade, Trenton Langjahr and Trent Craft will be joined by sophomores Max Loy and Dalton Sheaffer as reserve options for Loy.
“We need to develop those young guys to build a stronger and more consistent bench,” coach Loy said. “We also need to develop consistency on the offensive end.”
Offensively, the Bucks lose a majority of their threats — along with four starters. All-N10 first teamer Austin Wurm takes his 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3 assists average to graduation. Seth Ollis, Cole Stacklin and Ray Stahl averaged 14 points combined.
The Bucks offense found itself in the middle of the N10 at 54 points per game. They shot 47 percent from the field.
“We need to continue to improve throughout the season and put ourselves in position to contend for a league title,” coach Loy said.
Loy is entering his 12th year as head coach at Buckeye Central. He has only one losing season on his resume — his first year in 2004. In 12 years, Loy has compiled a 150-101 record and is easily the all-time winningest coach in school history.
The Bucks open the 2015-16 season on Saturday traveling to Firelands Conference favorite South Central for a tough test.
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Twitter: @JakeFurr11